Marie-Josée Gatian has been training dogs in Cleveland, Ohio for more than twelve years. Dog obedience training is a passion for THE Dog Class. Dogs and puppies of all ages, and all puppy and dog breed types can be trained. Dog training at THE Dog Class uses reward based reinforcement only. Her dog training techniques focus on the proper leadership skills for dog owners. If you are interested in reward-only, positive training, then THE Dog Class should be your choice for training your dog. THE Dog Class does not use, and does not recommend the use of shock collars (sometimes euphemistically called e-collars), as these are an unnecessary potentially abusive way to train a dog. Training dogsis the easy part. Training their owners is the hard part. Hence, THE Dog Class motto, “Training Dogs, One Human at a Time.” Dog obedience starts with training the owners. Marie-Josée the dog trainer, focuses on the pack leader skills necessary for a stable and happy owner and dog relationship. Basic dog obedience is taught, and problem solving such as stopping barking, jumping and leash pulling, just to name a few, is addressed. Dog training in our classes also focuses on socialization with other dogs and people as well. Puppy training includes housetraining as well as basic dog obedience.

About Marie-Josée

Marie-Josée Gatian was born and raised in Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec, Canada, near the acclaimed MIRA International Guide Dog Foundation, which specializes in training dogs to assist visually impaired individuals.

Marie-Josée has studied a comprehensive, rigorous education program in problem solving, canine ethology, genetics, behavior and learning theory, with a curriculum developed by both leading trainers and animal behaviorists. She also has a Bachelor of Science degree from the Université de Sherbrooke in Québec, Canada.

She has been training puppies, dogs, and most importantly their owners since 2004, and has trained over 4,000 dogs of all ages, sizes, breeds and temperaments.

Many of the dogs she has trained have passed the AKC Good Canine Citizen® examination through her preparation assistance. She is an AKC Canine Good Citizen® and AKC S.T.A.R. Puppy Approved Evaluator. She is also an approved Pet Evaluator Therapy Pets Unlimited

She and her rescued dog Toby were a registered pet partner team with Pet Partners (formerly the Delta Society), and volunteer to visit patients at Fairview Hospital through the PAWS for Care pet therapy program. Marie-Josée has trained other volunteer teams that have passed the Pet Partners therapy dog evaluation testing as well.

Marie-Josée is a volunteer puppy raiser for Guiding Eyes For The Blind.